Transition from work life to home life creates perfect environment for loss

December is the month in which most items are lost, with Saturdays being the worst days for loss and nearly as many items going missing on Fridays and Saturdays than the rest of the week put together. Loss peaks at 6:00 p.m.

The transition from daytime activities to evening activities seems to create a perfect environment for loss. People dashing from the office, laptop bag in hand, to meet friends for an evening out, or people going from a day of shopping to a dinner with friends seem to be the most likely to get distracted and carried away, or are simply carrying too much to keep track of everything.

With people more inclined to be travelling to meet friends and family and to have more social commitments during the holidays, it’s no wonder that December is the most loss-packed month. A person leaving the office on a Friday night with an overnight bag and an armful of presents in addition to their usual laptop bag is, unsurprisingly, more likely to lose track of what they have with them.

Similarly, making last-minute arrangements of where to meet or snapping the highlights with your phone’s camera mean that more of us are using our smartphones—the most common item to go missing.

In areas where commuting for work on public transport is common, there’s also a peak in loss in the morning, which appears to correspond to travel to work. Nineteen percent of loss recorded was on public transit.

There’s also a seasonal peak in the summer, which appears to reflect loss while on vacation.